Affecting some 150,000 people in France, Crohn's disease is a chronic inflammatory disease of the digestive tract. Basically, it has a direct impact on food absorption, leading to stomach ache and diarrhoea. When this persists, it affects the patient's overall health: acute fatigue, anemia, undernutrition and severe weight loss. The problem? This disease cannot be cured and does not age well. The challenge is to find the right treatment that responds most favorably to the symptoms and relieves the patient's daily life. In this context, the intensive practice of sport induces a very perilous balance and management of the disease. Romain lives this balancing act on a daily basis, in his quest for adventure and ultra-trail running. This is what he tells us, in a heart-to-heart interview.
La passion du sport dans les tripes
Romain Basset has been involved in sport from an early age. A hyperactive child, his parents offered him his first sports license at the age of 5. It's often said that sport shapes and forges youth. The adage fits Romain's life trajectory perfectly. After 10 years of judo, he decided to give up the kimono to devote himself to his new passion: cycling. He quickly climbed the ranks, reaching one of the highest amateur levels. The idea of making a career of it then crossed his mind.
Then everything changed. One day in September 2003, Romain was jogging, a classic jog as he was accustomed to doing during his cycling season, to clear his head. But this time, things don't go according to plan. Romain had to stop for something, twice, almost consecutively. Without warning, the sickness fell upon him.
«Ce jour-là, j’ai un besoin pressant, je m’arrête et je constate qu’il n’y a que du sang qui sort. Je rentre chez moi, paniqué. Mes parents m’envoient chez mon médecin qui me prescrit immédiatement un rendez-vous chez un gastro-entérologue pour réaliser une coloscopie. Deux mois plus tard, le verdict tombe net : maladie de Crohn. Perplexe, il m’explique que c’est une maladie inflammatoire chronique intestinale (M.I.C.I) qui correspond à un emballement du système immunitaire qui crée une confusion entre le «soi» et le «non-soi», laissant passer des résidus dans les membranes de l’intestin qui ne devraient pas passer. Cela enflamme le terrain et entraîne une inflammation chronique : maux de tête, diarrhées, déshydratation, perte de poids aigus, intolérance alimentaire… Je suis pris en charge par la médecine allopathique, traditionnelle qui est à l’instant T, ce qu’on me conseille de faire. Je sentais déjà qu’il se passait des choses bizarres dans mon corps, parfois limitées sur des efforts à haute intensité, mais à l’époque, sans le recul des années, c’était impossible de présager ce qui m’arrivait.»
As the years went by, Romain had to learn to live with this omnipresent disease. He managed to adapt his daily life and his sporting activities quite well, until a new setback in 2009.
'That year, I suffered from drug-induced hepatitis - in other words, I poisoned myself with my medical treatment. I was hospitalized, and the test results came back: my liver was imploding, I was dying. I ended up in hospital for a few days, and just as I was about to leave, something clicked. I left the hospital with a prescription for the same drug that had nearly killed me. Incomprehension, amazement. My brother comes to collect me, I look him straight in the eye and tell him: things are going to change.'
'I look him straight in the eye and tell him: things are going to change'.
Les rencontres qui marquent un homme
Romain's life trajectory was marked by a number of encounters. While living in the Paris region for professional reasons, Romain was transferred to Annecy in 2010, a signal that reinforced his desire and need for change. It wasn't long before he met Benoît Nave through Jean-Louis Bal, and got his first shock.
The day Jean-Louis told me about Benoit, I knew something was going to happen. So I made an appointment. I spent 1h30 telling Benoît my story and my symptoms, he asked me to trust him, I closed my eyes and off I went. The action was immediate: a metamorphosis in my diet. Everything had to be learned and relearned. We cut out gluten, cow's milk and a whole host of other products. In just 1 month, I noticed enormous progress. On a day-to-day basis, the disease was just symptoms, a kind of mental fog that I had trivialized and normalized. In 1 month, this mental fog disappeared. I'm becoming aware that diet has a gigantic impact on the management of my disease.
The day Jean-Louis told me about Benoit, I knew something was going to happen.
The positive spiral began. One thing led to another, and on Benoit's advice, Romain met Guillaume Fantin, an experienced naturopath. A new milestone in his quest for balance.
'When I met Guillaume, I said to him: I want to do what Benoit has done for me, I want to help others, I want to become a naturopath. So I enrolled at the Aix-les-Bains school in 2012, where my course lasted 3 years, after which I obtained 3 diplomas, one for each year: organic and natural products consultant in the 1st year; health educator in the 2nd year; naturopathic health practitioner in the final year. Looking back today, I realize that I did this diploma for myself, first and foremost for my personal enrichment and to apply the right things to myself. I was my own laboratory. Time goes by, I find my balance, but the disease continues to evolve and be unstable, alternating between phases of flare-ups and phases of remission.'
'I want to do what Benoît did for me, I want to help others, I want to become a naturopath.'
Le trail, son nouveau souffle
Romain really discovered running in 2007, in the Paris region. Weary of a grueling city life, running in nature opened up to him. A need to breathe, to take one's time, to listen to oneself.
«Je commence le trail en 2007, de suite, je me passionne pour ce sport et ses champions : Antoine Guillon, Dawa Sherpa… que je vois faire des choses extraordinaires qui me semblent impossible. J’ai eu très tôt cette volonté d’être encadré par un professionnel. Ce sera Julien Rancon, une pointure. Dès le début, nous avons développé une forte relation amicale. Nous avions l’idée commune qu’il fallait y aller progressivement pour progresser sur le long terme. Or j’avais déjà une volonté d’aller vivre des aventures par le trail et je me sentais capable de réaliser de belles choses sur des longues distances. Beaucoup de blessures au départ, comme tout le monde le sait, un cycliste qui se met à courir, c’est une catastrophe. Puis de fil en aiguille, mon corps s’est adapté et m’a autorisé à aller explorer toujours un peu plus loin mes limites. En 2010, je suis muté sur Annecy, le paradis. L’arrivée dans ce terrain de jeu va définitivement m’ouvrir à la pratique de l’ultra trail.»
Since then, this quest for adventure and emotion has been an integral part of Romain's life, leading him to cover thousands of kilometers on the trails: 90km du Mont-Blanc, Echappée Belle, Maxi-Race, CCC, Trail du Ventoux and many others... often with results well beyond his expectations. Witness his 19th place in the Diagonale des Fous in 2016. Even if managing the disease remains part and parcel.
'“Today, it's clear that I'm doing less than before, because it's getting more and more complicated to string races together, so I have to be clever in my planning. In terms of quantity, I train between 12 and 15 hours a week on average over the year, with peaks of 25 hours for specific preparation. I do a lot of cross-training. As well as saving my joints, it's also good for my digestion. It's a whole balance to find, because I pay for it very quickly when I run a lot.'
His year 2022 confirms his new-found stability.
'This year, I had scheduled 2 100-mile formats, which I particularly like. I put everything in place to get there as ready as possible. This resulted in a 9th place at the X-Alpine in Switzerland in July and a 7th place at the Nice Côte d'Azur by UTMB in September. Results that surprised me and above all convinced me that despite an auto-immune disease, it's possible to achieve great performances. Very often, we get attached to the top 3, but I'd like to say sometimes, stop talking only about the top 3 and take an interest in those behind them, who are performing almost as well and who have some great stories to tell.'
Un quotidien qui reste pesant
Despite phases of greater remission, the balance remains fragile. The disease is evolving, and Romain has to be on the alert at all times, constantly adapting his training to the symptoms.
«Je dois être franc, aujourd’hui, c’est très compliqué. Même si pendant de longues années, j’ai choisi de me débrouiller par moi-même, j’ai dû réintégrer dans mon quotidien des choses de la médecine plus traditionnelle. Quand on a plus le choix, il faut faire ce qu’on a à faire même si on est en désaccord avec. Aujourd’hui je mange plutôt très bien, mais cela n’a pas été le cas toute ma vie, et avec le poids des années, ainsi qu’une pratique du sport intensive, cela engendre du stress et de la fatigue, plus que pour une personne qui serait sédentaire. J’ai 44 ans, j’envie les jeunes d'aujourd'hui qui sont beaucoup mieux encadrés et mieux suivis par des professionnels de santé.»
With all the external consequences that this entails.
'Whatever the case, the disease isolates me socially. I'd like to join a group, but it's still difficult for me, I don't want to impose my illness. Nonetheless, networks are being set up between people suffering from the same disease, sharing experiences and good advice to help us feel understood and supported. This is particularly true of the François Aupetit association, for which I raised funds during my Diagonale in 2016.'
Et Baouw dans tout ça ?
Back in 2010, when Romain met Benoît Nave, the budding alchemy gave rise to the first experiments in homemade energy products to respond favorably to Romain's pathology.
'We were already making our own homemade purées and bars. When Baouw was created in 2017, naturally, I immediately embraced the philosophy: gluten-free, lactose-free, raw products, very little cooking, lots of micronutrients... It's banco for someone like me. The brand is 100% in line with what I'm recommended to eat. Baouw is all about quality!'
'When Baouw was created in 2017, naturally, I immediately embraced the philosophy.'
Products that suit her perfectly and enable her to establish her own nutritional routine for exercise.
'During my races, I have a very personalized nutritional routine, thanks in particular to Valentin Lacroix, dietician-nutritionist, who has helped me a lot in my before-and-after approach, where I had some big gaps. What an average person would put in place before a race for digestive savings would last 2-3 days, for me it would last 1 week, to limit as far as possible the risk of gastric problems appearing during exercise. I have memories of races where I've had to stop more than 20 times. It worked very well in Madeira during the MIUT (Madeira Island Ultra Trail) in April, where I only stopped 2 times in 20 hours of running. So the idea is to cut out all vegetables, oilseeds and anything else that could cause me digestive problems.'
'What an average person would put in place before the race for digestive sparing will last 2-3 days, with me it will last 1 week'
« En parallèle de ça, depuis 10 ans maintenant, je consomme tous les jours des jus de légumes que je réalise moi-même, donc frais et non pasteurisés, afin d'apporter tous les micro-nutriments, toutes les vitamines et tous les oligo-éléments nécessaires à mon bon équilibre. Ceci pour compenser les légumes que je ne consomme pas « à la croque » pour ne pas irriter l’intestin, mais aussi pour alcaliniser au maximum le terrain. Pour moi, les jus de légumes, c'est MA clé très personnalisée avec tous les bienfaits des fruits et légumes mais sans leurs fibres. Pendant l’effort, j’ai accentué ma prise de glucides et je me suis rendu compte que cela favorise la protection de la muqueuse intestinale en plus de favoriser la performance. Contrairement à beaucoup de personnes, moins je mastique et mieux je me sens, donc les'For 10 years now, I've been drinking my own vegetable juices every day, fresh and unpasteurized, to provide all the micro-nutrients, vitamins and trace elements I need for a healthy balance. This is to compensate for the vegetables I don't eat “raw” so as not to irritate the intestines, but also to alkalize the soil as much as possible. For me, vegetable juices are a very personalized MA key, with all the benefits of fruit and vegetables but without their fiber. During exercise, I've increased my carbohydrate intake and found that it helps protect the intestinal mucosa as well as boosting performance. Unlike many people, the less I chew, the better I feel, so the purees gels are perfect for that. I manage to reach 80-90g per hour. So more than 3/4 of my energy intake during exercise comes from energy drinks, compotes, purées and gels. In other words, liquid or semi-liquid nutrition and hydration' »
La santé comme clé de voûte
Romain is now 44 years old, and his passion for endurance continues to grow with each new adventure he takes part in.
'Illness has made me realize the value of present time. Time is precious, so you have to make the most of it, but not at any price. Always bearing in mind that health is the foundation of everything. And that you need to surround yourself with competent people who will help you achieve your goals. If I had one message to pass on, it would be that young people should take charge of their health right from the start, by putting in place things that will enable them to perform over the long term. Health first, then performance. The desire to win a race shouldn't encroach on the rest.'
'Illness has made me understand the value of present time.'
Comme pour le féliciter de sa résilience et de son courage, Romain, pour la première fois de sa carrière de trailer, alors même qu’il tente d’y participer depuis de nombreuses années, a enfin obtenu son précieux sésame, un dossard sur la plus grande course du monde, l’UTMB.
Retour sur le projet d'une vie : courir un utmb
We add these last lines, a few weeks after the UTMB, which Romain took part in this year. As every ultra-trail runner knows: training is one thing, and we're never safe from an unfortunate setback on D-day.
Romain tells you:
'As you probably know, I had to abandon the UTMB at the 130th km due to an injury (inflammation of the lifter). It's obviously a huge disappointment, as I had managed my race impeccably up to Courmayeur. This left me with very good resources, both physical and mental, for the whole of the second part of the course.
I was starting to move up quite a few places in the rankings, and the energy was rising, and quite surprisingly so. I was on the basis of 30h30 (and +/- 180 to 200th overall). So given my medical background, I was having the perfect race, at my level.
But at the Grand Col Ferret switchback, a strange pain appeared in my left foot. I gritted my teeth for about 30 km, but at CHAMPEX LAC the pain became unbearable. I groaned every time my foot touched the ground. Giving up, which had never been an option, became compulsory!
I'm finding it hard to recover psychologically, because the investment I've made over the years has been enormous. But I'm learning to put things into perspective. For a start, giving up is not linked to a nutritional problem; and I know that there are more serious things in LIFE.'
C'est dans différents chemins de vie et histoires atypiques que résident les plus beaux combats. Baouw est ravi de donner voix à Romain Basset afin qu'il partage son parcours et son courage.
Follow Romain's adventures on Instagram : rom_01_basset
©romain basset
